EconEdLink

Gen i Revolution

The UMSL Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education is nationally known for its creation of educational resources. The resources are grounded in appropriate content areas; based on national and/or state academic standards; designed to engage students in active, experiential, and cooperative learning; and interdisciplinary to creatively integrate economics into existing curriculum, including language arts, history, mathematics, science, and social studies.

﻿Grades 1-5

Wise Pockets Series (Pre-K-3rd grade) The Wise Pockets Series is a collection of 3 coloring books: Heather Learns about Earning!, Tim's Turn to Learn, and Will Saves for the Stars!. Each book uses a short story to teach about personal financial concepts and decision-making - including earning, saving, spending, lending, and borrowing. With the help of the books' main characters, Wise Pockets and Money Mouse, children learn important money management skills and have fun, too. The Wise Pockets Series can be easily adapted for use in the classroom as a curricular supplement, at home to assist parents in teaching children, and by students in self-learning activities. The Wise Pockets Series can also be used with the online learning tool Wise Pockets World.

Sponsored by the Council for Economic Education through the United States Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvements.

Wise Pockets World (Pre-K-6th grade) Preschool and elementary-aged children enjoy visiting Wise Pockets World and might not even notice they are learning to be better savers and wiser spenders. With the help of Wise Pockets, children learn about earning, saving, spending, lending, and borrowing through four fun online stories with interactive questions and follow-up activities. Wise Pockets World has something to offer teachers and parents, too. Teachers will find downloadable lessons that use popular children's trade books to teach personal finance concepts for grades 3-6. Parents will find useful activities and practical tips on how to better educate their children about wise money management.

Sponsored by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of America, US Bank, MasterCard International, Money Management International, and UMSL.

A Dollar, a Penny, How Much and How Many (K-2nd grades) This lesson uses the book A Dollar, a Penny, How Much and How Many by Brian Cleary. Students listen to a story in rhyme about cats as they learn to identify, count, and combine pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and some paper money. Students play games to identify goods and services, to match pictures of goods that rhyme, and to distinguish between spending and saving activities. Students learn to identify money in words, symbols, and coin pictures. This lesson creatively combines math and language arts concepts to teach money identification. Interactive whiteboard slides and activities accompany the lesson. The lesson is correlated to the Common Core State Standards.

To Market, To Market (K-3rd grades) This lesson uses the book To Market, To Market by Nikki McClure. In the story, a boy and his mother visit a local farmer's market to buy different goods they want. In this lesson students learn to identify markets, explore how characters in the story are consumers and producers, and distinguish between private and public good and services. Students learn about the price of goods and services and how they can be exchanged using money or barter. Students also learn about capital, human, and natural resources used to produce goods and services. Interactive whiteboard slides and activities accompany the lesson. The lesson is correlated to the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics and the Common Core State Standards.

Do a Zoo (1st grade) In Do A Zoo students learn about animal classification by sorting stuffed animals, work with partners to learn more about various animals, and create zoo structures. They then invite visitors to their "zoo" to see the animals, eat popcorn and ride a train. Do A Zoo addresses the economic concepts of decision-making, opportunity cost, resources, and human capital development. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

The Gingerbread Man (1st-2nd grade) Using The Gingerbread Man folktale as a theme, this curriculum unit integrates cooperative learning, mathematics, science, reading, social studies, written language, and economics. The creative unit contains 15 days of instruction but gives teachers the flexibility to choose any sections for instruction. Many of the activities can be developed as learning centers. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

Labor Works for You (2nd-4th grades)Labor Works for You is a curriculum set of nine lessons for teaching students about investment in human capital, examination of careers in the construction industry, and awareness of unionized labor and its history to bring about safe working environments. The curriculum was written with active participation of representatives of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association. It is divided into three units focusing on carpentry, plumbing, and sheet metal work. The ideal delivery system would involve the classroom teacher and a worker representing the career focus of the unit. However, in the absence of available workers, the lessons can easily be taught by the classroom teacher to encourage student learning in the areas of the construction trades and organized labor. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

Cool Cars and Trucks (3rd-5th grades) Children love LEGOs and they can be a great tool to teach economic concepts. This lesson is based on the book, Cool Cars and Trucks, by Sean Kenney. In the lesson, students identify natural, human, and capital resources. Students also explore scarcity, opportunity cost, and private versus public goods and services. Interactive whiteboard slides and activities accompany the lesson.

Kaleidoscope, USA (3rd-5th grades) In Kaleidoscope, USA students live history and use economics, geography, language arts, science, and math skills as they develop their fictitious community from a proprietor colony into an industrialized community and eventually into a community of the future. This curriculum unit provides opportunities for a variety of assessments as students make choices about colony size, develop advertisements, write persuasive letters, participate in role play, predict the community of the future, and develop land-use graphs. Two reusable maps are included. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

Sponsored by the Urban Extension Program, a joint project of University of Missouri Extension and UMSL.

Seas, Trees, and Economies (3rd-6th grades) Through experiential learning using Seas, Trees, and Economies, students explore and gain a better understanding of resource use. Students will recognize that the balance we seek with nature presents many difficult problems that demand well-thought-out solutions. The creative curriculum unit includes 10 active-learning lessons that teach about economics and the environment. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

A Yen to Trade (3rd-6th grades)A Yen to Trade includes 10 lessons designed to demonstrate the benefits of trade to students. The lessons engage students in exciting activities that illustrate why people persist in trading for what they want no matter what barriers exist and how trading makes people better off. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

The Louisiana Expansion (4th-5th grades) The acquisition and exploration of the Louisiana Purchase territory is considered by many historians as one of the most significant events in US history. The Louisiana Expansion is an interdisciplinary curriculum unit that brings this historical event to life for students. The lessons offer a variety of teaching strategies and activities that address social studies content and skills, communication art skills, and process skills. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

MO HiStory (4th-5th grades) Bring history alive with MO HiStory! MO HiStory creatively supplements the social studies curriculum by integrating economics, entrepreneurship, geography, history, and Missouri heritage. MO HiStory includes stories of 20 Missouri entrepreneurs, historical maps, downloadable lesson plans for teachers, and fun learning games for students. MO HiStory is correlated to the National Standards for Economics and the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

The Voyages of Columbus: An Economic Enterprise (4th-6th grades)The Voyages of Columbus: An Economic Enterprise contains 3 in-depth lessons that integrate economics, geography, math, and history. Students participate in activities in which they examine early trade barriers; identify incentives to which entrepreneurs respond; analyze the resources, human capital, and technology required for Christopher Columbus's voyage; and recognize the importance of information in decision making. These activities - combined with a mapping activity and supplemental lessons found in the appendix - enable teachers to use a variety of assessment strategies. A reusable map is included. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

Zooconomy: Zoo Decisions (4th-6th grades) Zooconomy: Zoo Decisions contains 5 lessons that teach basic economic concepts and develop analytical thinking skills through the creative integration of economics, science, math, language arts, and map skills. Students design their own zoo, carefully researching the habitat, diet, and special characteristics of their favorite animals. When students discover they want more animals than they can hold in their zoo, some tough decisions must be made. Fortunately, students learn the decision-making skills that will make them good "zooconomists." A reusable map for zoo design is included. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

﻿﻿﻿Grades 6-8

﻿Arts Mart (6th-8th grades) Using experiential learning, Arts Mart is a creative curriculum unit designed to complement the teaching of world history. Students participate in a simulation that helps them make connections between their lives and events that happened centuries ago. Teachers select 3-4 cultures they wish to emphasize in their class. Students produce art to represent those cultures. Near the end of the course, students establish art museums and purchase art through a class auction to display in their museums. At the conclusion of the auction, students conduct tours for other students, teachers, and/or parents, explaining the art, cultures, and what they have learned. Lessons are correlated to the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

Zooconomy II: Zoo Business (6th-8th grades) What are the goals of a business? How are business decisions made? Using Zooconomy II: Zoo Business, students find answers to these questions as they learn about business firsthand as zoo managers and make business decisions. Students learn what the zoo's goals are and how a rain forest exhibit would help the zoo achieve these goals. Zooconomy II: Zoo Business contains 5 lessons that develop analytical and critical thinking skills through economics integrated with science, math, and language arts. A Rain Forest Game with dice and game pieces is included. Lessons are correlated with the Missouri Show-Me Standards.

Money Math: Lessons for Life (7th-8th grades)Money Math: Lessons for Life includes 4 in-depth lessons to supplement the middle-school math curriculum using real-life examples about personal finance. Teachers need not be experts in personal finance to use Money Math: Lessons for Life in the classroom. The 86-page resource is a teacher's guide with lessons, reproducible activity pages, and teaching tips. Lessons are correlated to the National K-12 Personal Finance Standards and the NCTM Principles and Standards of Mathematics. Lessons were tested by teachers in the classroom and received rave reviews.

Sponsored by Citi Office of Financial Education, Department of the Treasury, Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, and UMSL.

The Giver: Jonas Makes a Choice Use this downloadable interactive whiteboard file with the downloadable EconEdLink lesson, "'The Giver:' Jonas Makes a Choice," to explore decision making and cost-benefit analysis.

﻿Grades 9-12

The Artist as EntrepreneurThe Artist as Entrepreneur is a unique series of 15 online lessons for students interested in entrepreneurship and learning about art as a business. The lessons are divided into five categories: entrepreneurship awareness, business planning, financials, negotiation, and arts-related law. The Artist as Entrepreneur website also includes 18 interviews with diverse artists, including painters, illustrators, musicians, designers, and crafts persons.

The Economics of Our Diverse SocietyThe Economics of Our Diverse Society: Lessons on Economic and Social Issues is a resource designed for high-school courses in social studies, economics, and civics. Students discover the usefulness of economics to understanding complex issues related to diversity and how to apply economic analysis to a variety of topics such as immigration, entrepreneurship, poverty, and boycotts and labor strikes. Students are introduced to relevant economic concepts, including incentives, exchange, decision-making and opportunity cost, broad social goals, human capital, and entrepreneurship.

Excise Tax and Elasticity - Case of a Tax on Soft Drinks Use this downloadable lesson to examine the impact of an excise tax on soft drinks, an increasingly popular proposal in many places. Students explore the impact of an excise tax on market price and quantity, tax incidence, tax revenue, deadweight loss, and how the magnitude of the elasticity of demand affects these outcomes.